Today at X019, Xbox Games Studios announced a brand-new IP from French developer Dontnod, the makers of Life is Strange. Tell Me Why focuses on the close bond between two twins: Tyler and Alyson Ronan. A “true-to-life story” determined by player choice, Tell Me Why will entrust players with the emotionally challenging childhood of its protagonists as they come to grips with their past and grow into adulthood in Alaska.
“The core mechanic of the game is the special bond Tyler and Alyson share and is also a theme strongly anchored into the Dontnod storytelling approach,” says game director Florent Guillaume. “Over the course of the story, players will explore the identical twins’ different memories of key events and choose which memory to believe. Ultimately, the choices players make determine the strength of the twins’ bond – and the future course of their lives.”
Aside from the already inventive narrative approach, Tell Me Why pushes for inclusiveness as one of the twins, Tyler, is a transgender man.
“Microsoft and Dontnod have approached Tyler with a real commitment to authenticity,” explained Nick Adams, Director of Transgender Representation at GLAAD. “Tyler is a fully-realized, endearing character, whose story is not reduced to simplistic trans tropes. Creating a playable lead trans character –and taking such care to get it right –raises the bar for future LGBTQ inclusion in gaming.”
The entirety of Tell Me Why will release in Summer 2020, despite being an episodic adventure broken into three parts. The game will be free to those with Xbox Game Pass and available for purchase on Xbox One, Windows PC, and Steam.
If you’d like to know more about Dontnod’s prior releases be sure to check out our reviews of Remember Me, Vampyr, Life is Strange, and Life is Strange 2.